Q&A with SIGGRAPH 2015 Technical Papers Chair Doug James

Technical Papers chair Doug James shares his passion for the program in an exclusive interview below. 

Reminder: Technical Papers submission form and abstract are due 22:00 UTC/GMT, 19 January 2015. The final paper is due 22:00 UTC/GMT, 20 January 2015.

How did you become involved with SIGGRAPH?

My first SIGGRAPH was in `99 when I published a paper as a graduate student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Since then, I've continued to be very excited about interactive physics simulation--and graphics and animation research in general--and found SIGGRAPH to be a great community for advancing those ideas. As a computer graphics professor, it is the natural venue for our research.

What motivated you to become Technical Papers Chair?

SIGGRAPH has always been the primary venue for my research activities, and I have been a long-time volunteer in the review process of the Technical Papers program, having reviewed hundreds of papers. I was honored to be asked to be the Technical Papers Chair: it's a great opportunity for me to help maintain and improve the widely respected SIGGRAPH review process established by our community.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in submitting content for the first time?

For new submitters to the Technical Papers program, I recommend reading the Technical Papers "call for papers" and related website content. In particular, there is an extensive Technical Papers FAQ that addresses many common questions. The basic recipe for showcasing your work in the technical program is to have a novel idea, explain it clearly in written form, and to provide evidence (be it data, images or video) to help support claims that your method improves upon the state of the art in some specific ways. Understanding and citing related works, and being able to explain the pros/cons of your approach, are also critical components. Getting feedback from experienced colleagues is also a good way to improve your submission.

What makes this program different from the others at SIGGRAPH?

The SIGGRAPH Technical Papers program is the premier international forum for disseminating new scholarly work in computer graphics and interactive techniques. We focus on the technical details underlying a broad spectrum of computer graphics innovations, and seek to document and disseminate these advances in all their glory.

Outside of Technical Papers, what other areas of the conference are you particularly excited about?

Everything. Seriously. I strongly recommend trying to look at a little of everything if you can, especially if it's something less familiar or different for you--come for the technical papers, but stay for the art and games. Things always change, and you never know what you will see next year.

How has SIGGRAPH influenced you personally and professionally?

We're inseparable. It's given me a lifelong venue for practicing and experiencing exciting technical and artistic innovations.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Releases Real Time Live! Preview Video

SIGGRAPH Real-Time Live! shows off the latest trends and techniques for pushing the boundaries of interactive visuals. An international jury selects submissions from a diverse array of industries to create a fast-paced, 90-minute show of cutting-edge, aesthetically stimulating real-time work, and maybe a battle between mind-controlled robot monkeys with laser eyes and autonomous penguin drones with shrink-ray bow ties.

Experience Real-Time Live! at SIGGRAPH 2014, which brings together thousands of computer graphics professionals, 10-14 August 2014 in Vancouver, BC. Learn more by clicking here.

Join the conversation on social media using #SIGGRAPH 2014.

SIGGRAPH 2014 TECHNICAL PAPERS PREVIEW

The SIGGRAPH 2014 Technical Papers program is the premier international forum for disseminating new scholarly work in computer graphics and interactive techniques. In anticipation of the upcoming conference, SIGGRAPH’s 41st annual, the program preview trailer is available on the official ACM SIGGRAPH YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/ACMSIGGRAPH).

Submissions to the Technical Papers program are received from around the globe and feature high quality, never-before-seen scholarly work. Submitters are held to extremely high standards in order to qualify.

“The quality of this year’s Technical Papers content was superb,” said Adam Finkelstein, SIGGRAPH 2014 Technical Papers Chair. “Not only did we receive outstanding work in the traditional areas of modeling, rendering, animation, and imaging, but we also noticed two emerging fields in design/fabrication and learning.”

SIGGRAPH accepted 127 technical papers (out of 550 submissions) for this year’s showcase, an acceptance rate of 25 percent (one percent higher than 2013). As is tradition, the papers were chosen by a committee made up of academia and industry experts.

The 2014 Technical Papers program also includes presentations for 46 papers published this year in the journal ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG). SIGGRAPH 2014 takes place 10-14 August 2014 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, Canada.

Highlights From the SIGGRAPH 2014 Technical Papers Program:

Pixie Dust: Graphics Generated by Levitate and Animated Objects in Computational Acoustic-Potential Field
Authors: Yoichi Ochiai, Jun Rekimoto, The University of Tokyo; Takayuki Hoshi, Nagoya Institute of Technology

To generate graphics using levitated small objects, this method expands the acoustic manipulation method by changing the distribution of the acoustic-potential field. The approach makes available many expressions (for example, expression by materials and nondigital appearance), and the expressions are levitated in mid-air.

Floating Scale Surface Reconstruction

Authors: Simon Fuhrmann, Michael Goesele, Technische Universität Darmstadt

Introducing a novel, virtually parameter-free method for surface reconstruction from oriented, scale-enabled point samples. The approach constructs an implicit function as the sum of compactly supported basis functions. The final surface is extracted as the zero-level set of the implicit function.

PushPull++

Authors: Markus Lipp, Pascal Müller, Esri; Peter Wonka, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Introducing the novel 3D modeling tool PushPull++. which enables rapid modeling and adjustment of arbitrary meshes with slanted surfaces. PushPull++ reduces the required clicks for common modeling tasks up to an order of magnitude compared to leading commercial tools.

Intrinsic Images in the Wild

Authors: Sean Bell, Kavita Bala, Noah Snavely, Cornell University

Introducing a large-scale, public dataset for intrinsic image decompositions of indoor scenes (Intrinsic Images in the Wild) with crowdsourced annotations of pairwise comparisons of material properties. The approach develops a dense CRF-based algorithm for intrinsic image decomposition of these images that outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms.

Learning Bicycle Stunts

Authors: Jie Tan, Yuting Gu, Karen Liu, Greg Turk, Georgia Institute of Technology

A general approach to simulation and control of a human character riding a bicycle. The rider not only learns to steer and balance in normal riding situations, but also learns to perform a wide variety of stunts, including wheelie, endo, bunny hop, front-wheel pivot, and back hop.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Announce Computer Animation Festival Winners

Jerome Solomon

SIGGRAPH 2014 is pleased to announce the 41st annual Computer Animation Festival award recipients for Best in Show, Jury Award, Best Student Project, Best Animated Short, and Best Visual Effects, among others. More than 100 pieces will be shown during the Computer Animation Festival at the Vancouver Convention Centre, 10-14 August. The 2014 nominees were chosen by an expert panel of jury members from more than 450 submissions.

“Each piece that is in the Festival is truly something special on its own merit,” said Jerome Solomon, SIGGRAPH 2014 Computer Animation Festival Director from Cogswell College. “There's no other stage in the world comparable to SIGGRAPH’s Computer Animation Festival and this year we have added more categories which only enriches the diversity and richness of the show."

The Computer Animation Festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival. Since 1999, several works originally presented in the Computer Animation Festival have been nominated for or have received a "Best Animated Short" Academy Award. This year’s selections will be featured during the Computer Animation Festival through a series of Daytime Selects and the iconic Electronic Theater, allowing attendees to glimpse behind the magic of computer-generated effects, visualizations, and animations.

To view the Computer Animation Festival preview video, click here.

BEST IN SHOW

Box (United States)
Directed by Tarik Abdel-Gawad, Bot & Dolly

“Box” explores the synthesis of real and digital space through projection mapping on moving surfaces. The short film documents a first-ever live synchronized performance using 3D projection mapping, robots, and actors.

JURY AWARD

Paper World (Hungary)

Directed by Dávid Ringeisen, László Ruska, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design

“Paper World” is an image film for the World Wildlife Fund Hungary where the values that WWF stands for become visible metaphorically on the level of a micro-world.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Home Sweet Home (France)

Directed by Pierre Clenet, Alejandro Diaz, Romain Mazenet, Stéphane Paccolat, Supinfocom Arles

A house uproots herself and goes on an adventure.

BEST STUDENT PROJECT

Wrapped (Germany)

Directed by Roman Kalin, Falko Paeper, Florian Wittmann, Filmakademie Baden-Wüerttemberg

The deterioration of one is the foundation of another one's life. The world, with its never-ending interplay of eating and being eaten, takes on new dimensions when the unexpected forces of nature clash with the existing structures of our society. The only constant is change.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Gravity (United Kingdom)

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Esperanto Filmoj
VFX work submitted by Framestore, United Kingdom

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Framestore

“Gravity,” this year’s VFX Bafta and Oscar-winner, turns filmmaking on its head. Rather than adding visual effects to a live-action plate, the film is around 80% computer generated, with the live-action elements (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney’s faces), integrated seamlessly with their CG spacesuits and surroundings.

BEST VISUALIZATION & SIMULATION

Kinematics (United States)

Directed by Jessica Rosenkrantz, Jesse Louis-Rosenberg, Nervous System

This video visualizes Kinematics, a system for designing and simulating flexible structures for 3D printing. Kinematics generates customized designs composed of 10s to thousands of hinged, interlocking modules. The designs are computationally folded using rigid-body physics into a smaller form for fabrication by 3D printing.

BEST GAME

The Crew (France)

Directed by Maxime Luère, Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra, Unit Image

The concept of this full-CGI trailer consists of juxtaposing the two worlds valued highly by car lovers: aesthetically pleasing advertisements and action scenes. The features of the game, such as the novelty of the multiplayer aspect and the feeling of freedom in an open world, are highlighted through this concept.

BEST REAL-TIME GRAPHICS

RYSE: Son of Rome (Germany)                                                                                           Directed by Chris Evans, Peter Gornstein, Martin L'Heureux, Crytek

With Ryse, Crytek decided to focus on characters and emotion to serve the game and story. Ryse is an eight hour game with an additional 110-minutes of linear storytelling content. The submission shows gameplay and cutscenes, both utilize the same assets and can be rendered in real-time.

BEST COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENT

Three, "The Pony" (United Kingdom)

Directed by Dougal Wilson, Blink Productions
VFX work submitted by MPC

The pony’s bouncy moves were created using a photo-real CG digital double and extensive R&D to translate human movement to a horse. The film cuts seamlessly between CG and real-life footage. Fur was created using MPC's Furtility tool, and environments were altered using compositing and matte painting.

SIGGRAPH 2014 images are available to authorized news media representatives. To request access, please contact the SIGGRAPH 2014 Media Office at media@siggraph.org. For full details, visit s2014.siggraph.org.

Past SIGGRAPH Technical Papers Presenters Recognized by the Academy

Paul Debevec

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its scientific and technical achievements award recipients who will be honored at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation this year.  According to Paul Debevec, Vice-President of ACM SIGGRAPH from the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies, several of these awards recognize computer graphics innovations originally published or presented at SIGGRAPH conferences.

“It’s wonderful to see some of SIGGRAPH’s brightest researchers being honored for contributions which have impacted the motion picture industry,” says Debevec – who also is a 2010 sci-tech award winner.  “In many cases this recognition follows years of difficult and complex work.”

Here are the details on the SIGGRAPH Technical Paper presenters who will be recognized: 

To Thomas Lokovic and Eric Veach for their influential research and publication of the fundamental concepts of deep shadowing technology.  The technique was first presented at SIGGRAPH 2000. 

Providing a functional and efficient model for the storage of deep opacity information, this technology was widely adopted as the foundation of early deep compositing pipelines.

http://www-graphics.stanford.edu/papers/deepshadows/

To Matt Pharr, Greg Humphreys and Pat Hanrahan for their formalization and reference implementation of the concepts behind physically based rendering, as shared in their book “Physically Based Rendering.”  The book explains, formalizes, synthesizes, and implements over one hundred articles from the SIGGRAPH technical papers program including several articles by the book’s authors.

Physically based rendering has transformed computer graphics lighting by more accurately simulating materials and lights, allowing digital artists to focus on cinematography rather than the intricacies of rendering. First published in 2004, “Physically Based Rendering” is both a textbook and a complete source-code implementation that has provided a widely adopted practical roadmap for most physically based shading and lighting systems used in film production.

http://www.pbrt.org/

                                  

SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING AWARD (ACADEMY PLAQUE)

To Eric Veach for his foundational research on efficient Monte Carlo path tracing for image synthesis.   Key pillars of this work appeared art SIGGRAPH 95, “Optimally combining sampling techniques for Monte Carlo rendering”, and SIGGRAPH 97, “Metropolis light transport” (both co-authored by Leonidas Guibas.). 

Physically based rendering has transformed computer graphics lighting by more accurately simulating materials and lights, allowing digital artists to focus on cinematography rather than the intricacies of rendering. In his 1997 Ph.D. thesis and related publications, Veach formalized the principles of Monte Carlo path tracing and introduced essential optimization techniques, such as multiple importance sampling, which make physically based rendering computationally feasible.

http://www-graphics.stanford.edu/papers/combine/

http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/metro/

For more details on all of these awards, click here.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Call For Submissions Share Your Talents at SIGGRAPH 2014! Present your work at SIGGRAPH’s 41st International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques: the premier showcase for creating experiences that wow the crowds and stimulate the senses. Taking place 10-14 August 2014 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, Canada. SIGGRAPH 2014 welcomes your technical skills and creative talents, ensuring that this year’s event will be the best yet! Whether you are an industry veteran or student, join your fellow computer graphic artists and scientists and share your talents at SIGGRAPH 2014. This year, we are also encouraging submissions focusing on mobile devices! Please consider submitting your work to our SIGGRAPH Mobile program if you are creatively making use of a tablet, smart phone, or any other mobile device for augmented and virtual reality, location-based interactions, collaboration, visualization, or anything else you wish to show us. While there is something for everyone at the conference, there is nothing without you and your contributions. Every piece submitted to SIGGRAPH 2014 through the Call for Submissions is reviewed by a highly qualified jury composed of top practitioners in the relevant field. Because we want each jury to have the time to review each piece carefully, submission deadlines generally are several months ahead of the conference itself. All the submission deadlines are strictly enforced, so be sure to plan accordingly. New for SIGGRAPH 2014 - All contributors to the conference will be required to use ACM's rights management system to grant the necessary permissions rather than SIGGRAPH's information system (SIS), which you used if you previously submitted to a SIGGRAPH conference.  You will still use SIS for creating submissions, but there will be an additional step of granting permissions in ACM--SIGGRAPH's parent organization--system. The ACM right management form includes permission to record and distribute audio and video recordings of presentations made at the conference for the purposes of distribution by ACM and SIGGRAPH. For submissions other than Technical Papers, this is a permission and release form, which allows you to retain the copyright. For technical papers, authors will have the choice of transferring the copyright to ACM, or selecting an exclusive publishing license, or an Open Access license. Complete instructions are available at the SIGGRAPH 2014 web site. Please review the policy before submitting.

Important Submission Deadlines Details For How to Submit Your Brilliant Work to SIGGRAPH All deadlines are 22:00 UTC/GMT Verify deadlines in your time zone via The World Clock converter. 12 January 2014 Student Volunteer Team Leader Applications 20 January 2014 Technical Papers 21 January 2014 Art Papers and Art Gallery 31 January 2014 Production Sessions 9 February 2014 Student Volunteer Applications 18 February 2014 General Submissions Courses Emerging Technologies Panels Posters SIGGRAPH Mobile Studio Talks 4 March 2014 Computer Animation Festival 1 April 2014 Real-Time Live! Dailies 6 May 2014 Late deadline for Posters Submission Deadline Notes Poster submissions can occur prior to the 18 February “general submissions” deadline or the 6 May late deadline for Posters. In both cases, Posters are reviewed using the same criteria and by the same jury. Authors submitting prior to the early deadline will get decision notification in mid-April.

SIGGRAPH 2013 Highlights from Anaheim

Anaheim marked the 40th annual SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition.

SIGGRAPH 2013, the world's premier conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, celebrated its 40th anniversary by welcoming 17,162 artists, research scientists, gaming experts and developers, filmmakers, students, and academics from 77 countries around the globe to Anaheim, California this week. In addition, 180 industry organizations exhibited at SIGGRAPH 2013 representing 43,850 sq. ft. of exhibit space. A total of 15 countries were represented on the show floor, which represented 38% of the floor being from outside the United States.

Mk Haley, SIGGRAPH 2013 Conference Chair

""No matter where SIGGRAPH is held, the gathering of tribes across such a wide range of industries and backgrounds always makes for an educational, inspiring, and delightful experience." said Mk Haley, SIGGRAPH 2013 Conference Chair from Disney Research. "SIGGRAPH 2013 was certainly no different. The content, the connections, the experience will live on through to Vancouver 2014. We want to personally thank everyone who participated or contributed in any way. Our plan is to use SIGGRAPH 2013 as a launching pad to extend the conference out beyond today’s closing through the creation of SIGGRAPH University and posting the entire 2013 Keynote session online amongst other initiatives."

In all, more than 1,354 speakers and contributors participated in the conference through a variety of talks, sessions, panels, papers, presentations, tutorials, and screenings.

Highlights from SIGGRAPH 2013 included:

The entire SIGGRAPH 2013 Keynote Session is available online here.

Nine Distinguished Animation Directors Share Their Complex Paths to Success at SIGGRAPH Keynote SIGGRAPH 2013, in collaboration with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented “Giants’ First Steps.” The panel was moderated by Randy Haberkamp of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and included notable directors: Ron Clements, Pete Docter, Eric Goldberg, Kevin Lima, Mike Mitchell, Chris Sanders, Henry Selick, David Silverman and Kirk Wise.

The panel explored the issues unique to the world of animation. The session was a part of the Marc Davis Lecture Series, which was established to provide a forum for film experts to explore the challenges of creating animation for feature films. The entire session is available online here.

The Project Skye blimp entertained attendees before the Computer Animation Festival.

The Computer Animation Festival presented the world's most innovative, accomplished, and amazing creators of digital gaming, film, and video. The Festival received more than 500 juried submissions in 2013. In addition to film screenings, the Festival included interactive sessions and exclusive learning opportunities to gain industry secrets and advice from some of the most successful professionals in the field. In all, there was a more than 10% increase in accepted films resulting in 8 additional hours of content for Daytime Selects. Also, the Electronic Theater returned with a total of 33 accepted pieces.

The Visuals Effects of Marvel's "Iron Man 3" was a popular session.

There was also a very deep set of 15 Production Sessions and a Real-Time Live! program that attracted major crowds.

SIGGRAPH 2013 Computer Animation Festival award winners were dominated by European films including:

Best in Show Award: À la Française

Directed by Morrigane Boyer, Julien Hazebroucq, Ren Hsien Hsu, Emmanuelle Leleu, and William Lorton, Supinfocom Arles; France

Jury Award: Lost Senses (Zmysły Prysły)

Directed by Marcin Wasilewski, Grupa Smacznego/GS Animation; Poland

Best Student Project Prize: Rollin’ Safari

Directed by Kyra Buschor, Anna Habermehl, and Constantin Päplow, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg; Germany

Best Student Project Prize Runner-Up: Sleddin’
Directed by John Pettingill, Texas A&M University; United States

Best Student Project Prize Runner-Up: Harald

Directed by Moritz Schneider, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg; Germany

Technical Papers, the premier global forum for presenting groundbreaking research from today's leading experts. The SIGGRAPH 2013 Technical Papers program featured 115 Technical Papers, selected among 480 submissions. The Technical Papers detailed new advances across many fronts, including 3D printing, creating water and snow with particles, deformation and distortion, and more.

The SIGGRAPH 2013 Art Gallery: XYZN: Scale presented exceptional digital and technologically mediated artworks that explored the existence of wonderment, mystery, and awe in today’s world of mediating technologies and abundant data. From nearly 400 submissions, the Art Gallery jury selected 16 pieces to be featured.

SIGGRAPH 2013 Emerging Technologies presented innovative technologies and applications of the latest developments in several fields, from 3D displays and interactive input devices to collaborative environments and robotics, and technologies that apply to film and game production. The Emerging Technologies program provides attendees a unique hands-on opportunity to interact with select innovative technologies before they become hot topics in the mainstream media and blogs.

This year marks the debut of “SIGGRAPH University” where four 2013 Courses were recorded onsite and will be posted to the internet this year and free to watch. More content will follow from SIGGRAPH 2014.

Evan Hirsch,  Business Symposium Chair

The third annual SIGGRAPH Business Symposium was held on Sunday, featuring keynote speaker Captain Thomas Chaby, executive officer at the Naval Special Warfare Center who spoke on disruption in the battlefield. The objective of the event was to provide tactics for leaders in the industry to move beyond disruption.

Click here for access to SIGGRAPH 2013 photos.

SIGGRAPH Day 3: More Sizzle Less Sleep

 Join the Scoop team as they take you on a brief recap of all the content, activities, and action at day 3 of SIGGRAPH 2013 in Anaheim. From morning to night, there is nothing like a full day at SIGGRAPH.

SIGGRAPH Day 2: The Adventures Continue

Day 2 of SIGGRAPH 2013 is in the record books. Here's a great recap of a very full day and fun evening including the Awards Session, the Keynote, and the premiere showing of the 2013 Electronic Theater.

SIGGRAPH 2013 Recap: Day 1

The 40th SIGGRAPH Conference kicked off on 21 July 2013 in Anaheim with the Business Symposium, Emerging Technologies, Art Gallery, Special Sessions and many other meetings and events. The day concluded with the immensely popular Papers Fast Forward closing out the night.

Hear from Attendees on What They Are Excited About @ SIGGRAPH 2013

SIGGRAPH's videography team (SCOOP) ventured inside and outside the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center on Sunday (21 July) to ask our enthusiastic and sometimes slightly jet lagged attendees what they're looking forward to most at SIGGRAPH 2013.

iPhone/iPad Users: Make Certain to Download this App Prior to Electronic Theater

iPhone/iPad users attending any of the Electronic Theater screenings at the SIGGRAPH 2013 Computer Animation Festival pay attention - in order to fully enjoy robots and graphics meeting in mid-air, you need to download this Sky Wars app.

Brought to you by a research collaboration between ETH and Disney Research, Zurich, Skye combines the elegant and energy efficient flight of a blimp with the precise handling characteristics of a quadcopter.  Agile motion is supported by long flight duration, safe deployment around people, and an integrated camera system.  Inter LEDs are used for the creation of aerial visual effects.

Special thanks to PARAQLINX for providing video livestream.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation), iPad 2 Wi-Fi, iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G, iPad (3rd generation), iPad Wi-Fi + 4G, iPad (4th generation), iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular (4th generation), iPad mini and iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

You Are Going Where?

Many who are on the outside of SIGGRAPH 2013 looking in may now be asking you the question, "Where are you going for the next week?"  Well, here's a simple landing page you can send them with the following text:

"I'm going to a convergence place where some of the most brilliant and thought-provoking minds on this planet come together for five days of mind-blowing sessions, events, and activities.  It's basically a year squeezed into less than a week.  And, oh yeah, by the way, they actually make insanely brilliant, delightful, incredible content like this:"

Now, they still may not totally understand where you are going, but they will be jealous.  For those that are SIGGRAPH veterans: safe travels, sleep on the plane, and see you soon.  For those that are coming and are new to SIGGRAPH, be sure to attend this or stop by the SIGGRAPH 2014 booth for advice or ask a student volunteer (look for the "Ask Me" button).

SIGGRAPH 2013 Exhibits Fast Forward Provides Quick Summary of Show Floor

Come to the Exhibits Fast Forward to hear from exhibitors before the show floor even opens.

SIGGRAPH 2013 (21-25 July) at the Anaheim Convention Center in California will feature a new session: Exhibits Fast Forward, where attendees have the opportunity to hear a one-minute highlight of what is new from participating exhibitors.

“This diverse session gives attendees a taste of the Exhibit floor in a very condensed format,” said Mk Haley, SIGGRAPH 2013 Conference Chair from Disney Research. “Even though this is the first year for this event, we anticipate this becoming a favorite, just like Technical Papers Fast Forward. It is a very efficient and entertaining way to hear the latest and greatest from a variety of exhibitors. ”

Based off of the perennially popular Technical Papers Fast Forward, Exhibits Fast Forward gives presenters less than a minute to impress the crowd with their product or service and entice them to hear the complete story at the exhibitor booth later in the week. Attendees can expect entertaining and enlightening presentations from many exhibitors including:

• Mcor technologies
• zSpace, Inc. 
• Avere Systems 
• Prefixa International INC 
• French Pavilion by Cap Digital  and Imaginove
• Lightcraft Technology 
• ForgeFX 
• Vancouver Film School 
• Esri 
• Kobold Charakteranimation 
• ARM 
• Korea Creative Content Agency 
• Siliconarts, Inc. 
• Bleank 
• Vicon Motion Systems
• BZP PRO 
• The CGAL Project
• WorldViz 
• SpeedTree - Interactive Data Visualization, Inc.  
• Qt by Digia  
• Integrated Media Technology Inc. 
• Leopoly  - Leonar3Do International Zrt. 
• Lightwork Design Ltd  
• AMD 
• CADA
• Faceware Technologies 
• Reallusion, Inc. 
• GreenButton Ltd.
• Beijing Noitom Technology Ltd
• Dimensional Imaging Ltd
• Christie Digital Systems
• British Columbia Ministry of International Trade 

The session will take place on Monday, 22 July starting at 3:45pm in Ballroom AB and is open to full conference, select conference, exhibitors, exhibits plus, and exhibits-only badge holders.  Check back to this page for exhibitor updates to this list.  And for those attendees only at SIGGRAPH for Sunday and Monday, this just might be a "must attend" event, so get there early.

SIGGRAPH Mobile App & Scheduler Now Available

Maximize and customize your experience at SIGGRAPH 2013 with our mobile app and scheduler. Personalize your schedule, connect with other attendees, find exhibitors, investigate job fair participants, and more!  Use your phone, tablet, or internet browser to:

• See other attendees who are coming to SIGGRAPH 2013.
• Review the agenda and speakers, and create a personalized schedule.
• Connect with other attendees by sending messages and setting up 1-on-1 meetings (while keeping your email private).
• Find exhibitors and review their profiles before you even get onsite.
• Provide feedback for each session you attend.

"It is great to offer a platform that should absolutely enhance the SIGGRAPH experience from both a networking and planning perspective," said Mk Haley, SIGGRAPH 2013 Conference Chair from Disney Research. "We listened intently to our audience's wishes for a platform of this nature and we are excited to have delivered this customized version in time for the 2013 conference."

Shortly after you register for SIGGRAPH 2013, an account to access all of the features of the mobile app will be created for you.  You will then receive an email with a link to activate your account. Or, click here and go to "Log In". To set up a personalized account, use your Registration ID as your username and your last name plus “2013” as your password:

Username: Registration ID
Password:  LastName2013 (all lowercase)

Why create an account? To personalize your event schedule, request meetings with others, access real-time event information, and more!

Please note that the App system may not recognize you immediately after registering for SIGGRAPH due to the time required to transfer your data. For assistance with the app, contact support@zerista.com

Also after the conference ends, be sure to complete the post-conference survey with any suggestions that you have for next year's SIGGRAPH mobile app and scheduler.

SIGGRAPH 2013 Highlights Accomplishments in Computer Graphics

SIGGRAPH Dailies is a show celebrating excellence in computer graphics, showcasing images and short animations of extraordinary power and beauty. It is a fast-paced event where each presenter has less than two minutes to show an animation and describe their work.

There is an immense variety of stunning imagery showcased at Dailies. Hearing the artist tell the story behind their work is what makes Dailies extra special. Attendees may hear an entertaining tale about a tight deadline, or a thought provoking discussion about a clever technique used to make incredibly complex imagery.

Mark Elendt

“Dailies is a whole evening of "behind the scenes" stories. Not only do you see outstanding imagery, but you also hear the stories from the artists who did the work: the challenges, clever tricks, or even how they were personally affected by the work,” said Mark Elendt, SIGGRAPH 2013 Dailies Chair from Side Effects Software Inc. “With 45 different stories, it makes for a very fast-paced and exciting evening. There really is no other place where you can experience this kind of event.”

Seating for the live show is limited and will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. View the Dailies YouTube video below:

Specific highlights include:

The Octopus And The Geisha
Presenter: Edward Dawson-Taylor, EDJFX

What began as a technical and creative personal project, to create an eerie underwater short film with tentacles, took me to creating one of my proudest works and ended up being used as a music video and visuals for a band I have loved for over 15 years!

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Cinematic Intro
Presenter: Marc Messenger, Blizzard Entertainment

For this cinematic intro, the Blizzard Film Department explored a heightened level of stylization that influenced everything from character design and animation to environments, effects, and lighting.

Animator-Friendly Simulation - Rigging for Deep Dance
Presenter: Georg Schneider

Rigs that give animators the ability to use simulation at the beginning of the animation process and continue working on the result as if it had been animated by hand.

Sleddin'
Presenters: John Pettingill, Kelly Kin, Junze Zhou, Texas A&M University

In this short film, a daring boy sleds down a towering mountain. After crashing, he discovers that reality was not quite what it seemed. His adventure is a metaphor for larger-than-life experiences. These moments, often created in our childhood, depend on our perspective.

Monsters University: Art's Groom and Simulation Setup
Laura Beth Albright, Pixar Animation Studios

For "Monsters University," the stylized design and unusual animation requirements of a new character, Art, presented unique challenges for grooming, shading, and simulation, which required custom solutions.

Visit the website for a list of Dailies contributors.